1986 Mazda 323 4WD from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

Cracked a crankshaft back in 1994 but otherwise only wear and tear items.

Good little sporty hatchback. Being 4WD gives the car great handling in all conditions. It certainly chews through the gas though.

Good to hear that you haven't had problems with your car as the BF series 1.6 turbo 4X4 generally had some serious faults.

There was a recall to change the front crank bolt as these tended to break.

In my case it was changed but done badly by Mazda so the bolt loosened and the crank key then broke with resultant damage to the crank. The only help I could get (other than Mazda recommending I pay for a bottom end rebuild) was from Loctite who provided a great adhesive that has held the pulley to the crank for 40,000 kms.

Then there are the problems with the gearbox, center diff lock wears with resultant particles destroying the syncros. Problems with weak brakes, etc, etc. Little help from Mazda!

Manufacturers should be obliged to list all technical service bulletins and recalls on the web. Then there would be much more open information on the car and its problems and prospective buyers could evaluate its real history.

With the problems I had with Mazda Australia, I would have to think very carefully before buying another of their vehicles.

I guess what I am saying is consider yourself lucky with that particular model.

Hello, my friend owner a 323 Turbo 4WD 98', when he purchased the car it was completley factory - pretty gutless too. On having someone fiddle with the boost it was like a new car,it flew. As with many of these cars from what I have heard, the centre transfer case is not that strong, and it blew, whilst waiting for parts to arrive a mechanic made it so the drive was only going through the front wheels and it was a handful to drive and forget about full power in first gear this would only produce wheel spin.

An excellent handling car, however as with most 4wd sports cars understeer was a problem, particulary in the wet despite having Michelin tyres on.

An almost indestructible engine though, my friend had little regard for the red line and even after a total on 190,000k's it wasn't even using a little oil!!! top marks Mazda. Very chunky standard front sway bar - very cool.

I had a '86 323 GTX, 4wd turbo. I bought real cheap cos it running on 3 cylinders with the turbo's waste-gate blocked off, it came complete with a James Bond portible smoke screen free of charge.

Once home I hooked up a boost gauge and took my smoke screen for spin. It hit 21psi of boost @ about 5200 rpm in 5th gear, I only stopped cos the clutch was slipping. The acceleration was unreal, we pushed back in the seats like nasa test pilots.

Not bad for a car that had three detonated pistons at the time.

It had been modified a lot: HKS pod filter, full 2 1/2" exhaust system, Toyota Celica turbo, front mounted intercooler, cams, polished and ported head, chipped, the airbag suspension had been replaced with KYB shocks & super low king springs plus heaps more, in short it was a weapon + it was red and every one knows red is the fastest colour.

After rebuilding the motor and putting the boost back to 9psi it was still an extremely quick little car that handled unreal. Even with the after market suspension it was very unstable if you hit a bump @ 160 kph and dam scary 200 kph plus, they are about as aerodynamic as a brick.

Problem was it was so unreliable, i'd drive it for 2 weeks and walk the next week while it was getting repaired. After the crank pulley nearly fell off and I had to have both the crank and pulley bushed so it could be refitted I sold the car, yip I sold my problem to some little unsuspecting 17 year old punk, and I made a lot of money on the car too.

I still regret selling it and miss it dearly, it might have been reliable, but it was quick, handles well and was fun to drive.

I fully recommend these little cars, but they are weak in the gear boxes and the crank pulley tends to fall off for no reason.